Last night I finished reading Imani all Mine by Connie Porter. While reading it, I could not help to think about girls who I know personally. Girls who are in my family. Girls who attend my church. Girls who I knew in school. Old girl friends from grade school. Mothers of the girls. Who all had babies very young out-of-wedlock.
All of the girls who I thought about were African-American.
Porter wrote the book using a type of vernacular. I call it street vernacular. I think her ability to tell this type of story in this street vernacular is the quality of an author. The main character, Tasha, was talking in a way that reminded me of people I know, who I always correct. Using the past tense incorrectly, made me want to correct some sentences. Nevertheless, it gave me a better understanding of her world in Boston.
There was a time I felt sorry for girls like this (young girls who had babies out of wedlock) or I guess the word would be pity. I would wish that I had, just to give to them. But they do not want anyone’s sympathy or pity. They only want love from that one special person. Their mother or their father. At least that is what they say.
What I want to read now is the same type of book from a male perspective. The male who rape. The male who sleeps around constantly. The male who also wants to be loved. I want to hear his story. 
It is half his story too.
Knowing and having friends who have babies out of wedlock is quite an experince. I feel personally that its the result of a careless and bad mistake. I know afterwards that if you have the baby you will love it and I definately prefer everyone and anyone to have the baby rather than abort it. However, I also feel that young ladys of any social class should avoid having a baby, especially out of wedlock.
I like the picture you choose. Its like we see the his eyes but not her´s. Is it because we already know her thoughts on the subject? Or is it because (this is my personal opinon) that society still gives an advantage to being male and this is play out in the game of love?
Having babies out of wedlock has always been a touchy topic. And no matter how people try not to judge it still happens and most of the time it happens to the person who carries the baby- The Mother.
The reason why I chose this picture is not because of his eyes but more because of the way he is holding her. He is more controlling the situation and their movement. Her arms are down by her side and he is pressing his body towards her. In the book, Imani all Mine, the main character, Tasha, got pregnant the first time from rape. The guy did all the holding. All the work so to speak.
Sometimes when people- especially young girls – have children, society( family including) do not want to talk about how she got the child. No one in the book asked Tasha who was the father of Imani. They tried to guess but no one asked. And the guy wasn’t someone she knew; however, it was a student from her school. For Tasha, love wasn’t a game. It was real. Life and Death.